The game's up! Netflix is rolling out a feature letting users transfer profiles & data to brand new accounts. While a Netflix PM reckons the move helps as "People move. Families grow. Relationships end", it's an obvious precursor to monetizing account sharing in 2023. Not so chill, Netflix...

Wait... They shipped what!?

Discord is shipping two major features: Activities, and an App Directory.

Details: Activities lets users chill within Discord in new ways, such as playing games and watching videos as a group. 

App Directory is effectively an app store for Discord bots. Here, Discord is also testing Premium App Subscriptions, letting developers make money off their bots. 

Why it matters: Discord's fantasized about the App Store model for years. In 2018, the company unsuccessfully tested a game store. This time, instead of trying to create demand from scratch, Discord's monetizing a high engagement ecosystem - bots.

It's a big opportunity. The generative art bot, MidJourney, is being used by over 300,000 people at once. By monetizing bots, Discord positions itself as a viable way for developers to earn a living, and to that end Discord just announced a developer fund.

Activities takes things a step further. By moving beyond chat and letting developers use the entire screen, Discord stands to unlock some next-level creativity.

Features & products hot off the press

Big tech

• Amazon Prime Video launches a weekly livestream concert series

• TikTok announces adult-only livestreams & age requirements for going live

• Paypal unveils a new rewards program

• Flipkart ships a metaverse shopping experience

• Adobe Express for Education launches new AI & safe search tools

• Apple is bringing spatial audio to Mercedes cars 

• Alipay tests QR code money transfers through WeChat

General and early-stage

• Lyft increases service fees by ~18% across the U.S.

• Mastercard launches a crypto trading program for banks 

• Runway ML unveils its Erase & Replace AI-image editing tool

• Discord ships Nitro Basic, a cheaper $2.99 / month subscription 

• SpaceX's Starlink will soon have a donation feature 

Getting 1% better at building product

• Q4 madness - How to handle Q4 as a PM, by Aakash Gupta

• B2B prioritization - When to say no to a feature request, by George Nurijanian 

Broader tech happenings

• Ad tracking. Meta's new headset will track your eyes for targeted ads

• Too free. Parler exposes its VIP users after Kanye West M&A announcement

• 420 blazin. Uber Eats will start delivering weed in Toronto

• One-click exits. Attrition costs Amazon $8 billion annually

• Not so lit. South Korean super-app Kakao goes down after a data center fire

Courtesy of mindless Twitter scrolling

@brenankeller

@Carnage4Life

And that’s a wrap for today. Stay tuned for more!

-  Amol